Executive Summary Download as PDF Ismailis are the second biggest Shia community worldwide after the Twelver Shia, but while in Yemen they are outnumbered by both Sunnis and Zaidi Shia they have deep historical roots in the country going back over 1,000 years. Living mainly in the northern Haraz mountains and Aden in the south, Yemen’s Ismaili minority hails from the Tayyibi Mustaʿli branch of Yemen and India, which is outnumbered globally by the more numerous Nizari Ismailis.
